


Ravnicademy: Senior Year

by Bace_Jeleren



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Gen, Midquel, Read the original first, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-09-21 02:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9528548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bace_Jeleren/pseuds/Bace_Jeleren
Summary: In her final year at the academy, Chandra Nalaar will find she has a lot more to face down than deciding what she wants to do with her future, or what clubs to join. Caught in the whirlwind of wanting her senior year to actually mean something, Chandra will find that dark forces are still lurking in the shadows, waiting to throw her life into chaos once more.





	1. A Place to Return To

Chandra knew right away she was dreaming. It was a place that had visited her sleeping hours so often she could tell without even a single doubt: The end of the maze beneath Ravnica Academy. It was just how she remembered it- or at least, how they had left it behind. She hadn't returned since they had plunged down into the maze's depths the first time, so she had no idea if the massive hole in the roof of the chamber had been fixed, or if anyone had bothered to remove any of the rubble- but this was how it appeared to her, and her subconscious was pulling off all of the stops to convince her she was there. The air smelled of dirt and the faint scent of fire, and she could feel a breeze blowing in from above, whipping her hair up towards the uncovered ceiling, and hear the howl of the wind. She could make out the millions of twinkling stars above her growing fainter in the slightest twinge of sunlight that had begun to cover the sky. She ran her fingers over the rough chunks of rock that littered the ground, feeling the rough texture beneath her fingers.

Yes, the scene felt real, and maybe they would have been enough to convince her had it not been for one, single detail: a person waiting for her near the wall where all the mana of Ravnica and their sparks had been trapped, leaning against the stone and staring up at the stars. They were always the thing that convinced Chandra she was in a dream, and not wandering around in the maze by herself, always there waiting for her like they had planned to meet up, always looking back at her like she had kept them waiting. And even though Chandra knew she was dreaming, and even though she had been through this scene so many times, she felt her chest tighten.

Her companion smiled- a smile that was a slight twist away from being sick and unnerving. They were waiting for Chandra to speak up and to speak their name as if it were a spell that would lift the silence between them. And in those brief moments of silence as Chandra opened her lips to speak, she thought again, just like always, 'why you? Why is it always you?'

"Baltrice." She spoke aloud. It wasn't a question, or even a greeting. It was more of a statement, confirming she was there, and not just a shape or a shadow. She appeared as she had when they had fought within the maze, just as smug and cruel, almost like she wasn't aware of what her fate had wound up being- and as much as it made Chandra's skin crawl, she was thankful. There were times where she could appear before Chandra partially on fire, partially melted like her skin was made of clay.

"You kept me waiting, Nalaar." Baltrice responded, just like always. Her voice filled the chamber in an odd way, and echoed unnaturally all around her. And as always, Chandra held herself from apologizing to a phantom that only lived in her dreams. "Although, I'm surprised you're still here."

Oh. That was new. It caught Chandra off guard and she cocked an eyebrow curiously, and Baltrice smirked as if that was what she had wanted her to do.

"What do you mean, by 'still here'?" Chandra dared to ask. Normally she tried to interact with her as little as possible, keep her sentences down to a few words with single syllables.

"On Ravnica, of course." Baltrice chuckled, holding her hands slightly aloft as her gaze traced over the room before settling back on Chandra. "Even with your spark and all your power, you still insist on staying trapped on this rock."

"There's nowhere I want to go, and there are things I still need to take care of here." Chandra replied seriously, refusing to go deeply into details that weren't even worth going into. "There's no reason to leave Ravnica right now."

"Not even to go after Jace and Liliana?" Baltrice asked. Chandra flinched, their names almost hurting her. She didn't want to mention it to anybody, but it had been a year and they had still not returned- no letter or message assuring them that they were alright, or to let them know they still even remembered them- and it had started to really nag at her. She grit her teeth behind her lips and shook her head.

"They don't need me there with them. I don't even know where they are." She grumbled, balling her hands into tight fists. "I need to stay here on Ravnica, I can't just up and leave for no reason at all!"

"You'll soon find that maybe leaving this place will be necessary." Baltrice's tone of voice had taken on a surprisingly icy tone, and Chandra looked up at her to see her looking back with a deathly-serious expression. She felt a shiver run up her spine as the chamber seemed to grow darker and colder.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, expecting Baltrice to go back to looking smug and sinister, but she remained stone-faced as she looked Chandra in the eyes.

"Ravnica is far from saved- and while you and your friends enjoy this temporary, false peace, you know in the back of your mind that you didn't take care of everything. And ignoring it won't do you any good." Chandra felt her stomach turn before she spoke again.

"You're talking about Ashiok... aren't you?"

"Who else could I be referring to?" Baltrice asked with a cock of her head.

"B-but we defeated Nicol Bolas! Without his help, Ashiok won't be much of a threat on their own!" Chandra insisted. "Nissa established a team to search for them, and they haven't turned up anything after all this time! Ashiok doesn't mean well, sure, but they aren't _that_ dangerous."

"But there are people within the multiverse that _are_." Baltrice insisted. "They have access to their spark now, as much as you. And if Ashiok could sway Nicol Bolas to do as they wished, then they can convince just about anyone to help them. If I were you, I'd be a little more worried."

"No... If they wanted to do something, they would have done something by now!" Chandra shouted back. A rumble echoed throughout the chamber as flames began to build in the corners of her vision. The place suddenly seemed a lot more dilapidated than before- like it had been the scene of a war.

"They're simply biding their time. Even after you defeated Nicol Bolas this plane has been in danger, and Ashiok knows this." Baltrice spoke above the rising noise, the crackling of flames mingling with her words. "They were always prepared for the chance that Nicol Bolas should fail. They know of something on this plane that you don't, something that will draw the evils of the multiverse here."

"What is it, then!?" Chandra snapped, attempting to take a step forward, only to have a sudden wall of flames block her path. "Tell me what it is, if you now so much!" She was angry, she was frustrated, but above all things, Chandra was frightened.

A single voice answered back in a whisper that somehow could be heard above all the other noises that bounced off the walls, but it was't Baltrice. She merely peered through the flames with a look that resembled pity as the whisper was joined by even more voices- hisses, shouts, cries, wails- that all said the same thing, repeating the phrase over and over:

"Beware the Veil... Beware the Veil... Beware the Veil..."

"Beware the... what!?" Chandra gasped as she grasped at her head. The din of voices that began to grow and grow in volume began to hurt her head almost instantly, and with a considerable bit of strain she looked up once more to look back at Baltrice, who was now consumed in flames, but still unwaveringly looked back at her. And through the flames, Chandra could see her lips move, deliberately forming words, but Chandra couldn't make out what they were.

"What are you talking about!?" Chandra cried. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"

Suddenly her vision was enveloped by blinding light and she felt her entire world shift violently as she threw herself forward. She felt her heart pounding against her chest furiously and sweat dampening her skin as she wildly looked around. Fire no longer consumed her vision and the relentless voices had ceased. Instead, she found herself in bed, in her room, daylight streaming in through her window. Her ears still rang, but other than that the dream had faded completely... yes, just a dream. It was only a dream. Just like always. Chandra heaved a sigh, trying to calm herself. It had all been just a crazy dream, and nothing more, as vivid as it had been. She could even still smell the fire...

Fire...?

Chandra gasped as she looked down as her sheet she had been grasping in a panic to find that she had summoned flames from her hands in response to the stress the dream had caused, and she was well on her way to setting her entire bed ablaze. Sure, her own fire wasn't really much of a danger to her, but everyone else in the house wasn't as impressively inflammable.

"Oh shit! Oh _shit_!" She cried out as she quickly shook her hands to stop from producing even more flames, at least, and leaped up from her bed. There wasn't much lying around the room at this point- just a few boxes lying about full of things that would probably only act as tinder for the small blaze now burning brightly on her bed. With hardly any real time to think, she reached for another blanket that had fallen onto the ground and began using it to try and smother the fire, which she couldn't tell if it was even working through all the smoke her fire-fighting attempt was creating. It only occurred to her to finally open her windows once the smoke alarms started to beep irritatingly.

"Ugh, what a way to end this visit..." She groaned as she looked down her charred sheets and blackened mattress. "At least the student apartments come pre-furnished, or else I'd _definitely_ be out a bed!" She wiped her brow and turned away from the mess she had made to go about the rest of her morning. At the very least, she wouldn't get nagged at about oversleeping again.

Another summer had come and gone- a quiet summer at home, awkwardly existing around her family of regular humans, for the most part, anyway. Gideon had stopped by once or twice, once to help her pack up her belongings (and throw away the impressive amount of garbage she had pilled up in her room) that were to be transported to the school- much to her surprise, Chandra's parents had arranged for her to move from the dorms to the student apartments for her final year at the academy. She even now was still attempting to think of it as a genuinely nice gesture and not an attempt to give her less reasons to return home during breaks.

Avacyn had even dropped by once, there had been a trip to the beach and... of course there had been the all-too-familiar absence everyone had grown just a little too used to. Nobody dared mention their names, but there was always a space in the group that everyone noticed- a silence where there normally wouldn't be. It had been a whole year, and it was still there...

"Ugh, stop thinking about it, Chandra..." Chandra scolded herself as she slapped her hands against her cheeks like she was trying to rouse herself from a dream. "There's no use getting hung up about this now..."

Instead, to busy herself, she went about getting dressed and gathering the rest of her belongings- a backpack slung over her shoulder and a few small (but heavy) boxes balanced on top of each other in her arms. She took one last look around her room before heaving one last sigh. She'd probably have to apologize for the bed- if not then, then later when she was back at school and far away from any kind of possible punishment (she already knew it was going to wind up being the later- a bit difficult to apologize for almost burning down the house while bidding farewell to everyone).

Arms full of boxes, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, which was surprisingly quiet. The only person aside from her that was there was her mother, quietly drinking a mug of coffee and looking at something on her phone. Chandra couldn't help but feel a little bit of discomfort as she silently made her way across the room and set her boxes on a nearby chair.

"I heard the smoke alarms going off a little while ago." Her mother mentioned, breaking the silence. "Was that you?"

"Oh- um- yeah, that was... from _steam_. I took a really hot shower, and you know how sensitive those smoke alarms are." Chandra lied through a slightly uncomfortable chuckle.

"Funny, I didn't hear the water running." Her mother said, but added nothing else as she took another sip of her coffee and the silence settled back over the room once more. Chandra decided to follow suit and not layer lies on top of lies and instead made her way to the coffee pot that was still half full.

"Is everyone else gone?" She asked as she poured herself a cup. "I was hoping to say goodbye to dad and everyone else before I left."

"Leaving so early?" Her mother asked, looking up from her phone.

"I'd rather get on the road as soon as I can so I have time to unpack once I get back to the academy. Plus I'd rather not make a huge spectacle out of leaving." Chandra explained between sips of coffee. "Just tell everyone I said goodbye if they're already gone- oh, and tell Chelsea to stop calling Gideon and to flirt with people her own age."

Another wave of silence rolled over them, but Chandra couldn't help but notice her mother was no longer as interested in her phone as she was in her, watching her carefully, as if she were studying her. Chandra quickly looked down at her outfit, making sure she hadn't exactly burned it, too.

"Um-"

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Her mother sighed, shaking her head. "I just can't help but notice something is... different about you. I realized it last year, too... maybe it's because you're never around- not that it's any of your fault. But you seem... older, more mature, maybe. My own daughter is growing up and I can only see it in short flashes. You're almost practically an adult and I'm only just now feeling like I've missed something."

"Mom..." Chandra sighed. She wanted to assure her of something- but of what? Everything that was coming out of her mouth was true, there was really nothing to say on the contrary. There was also the whole 'Oh, right, mom, turns out I can travel between different universes now, so there's that' shtick that Chandra wanted very much to avoid.

"Maybe it was a poor decision on my part to send you and your brother to the academy. Maybe if we had been a little more accepting, maybe I could have seen you change, and not just little snapshots in between." Her mother continued, sounding surprisingly melancholy. "Maybe, in a way, I've failed, as a mother..."

"H-hey, don't say that!" Chandra gasped, nearly spilling her coffee in surprise. "I... I mean... being sent to the academy wasn't all that bad. I've met a lot of great people and... we did a lot of great things. I've found myself there, and I don't think I would have been able to do that if I were here with you guys." She wasn't sure if what was coming out of her mouth would even help the situation, but she knew she had to say something. In a way, her mother sending her to the academy had saved the multiverse- somewhat, anyway (Sure, Jace had been the one to really do the deed, but she had been _present_ , hadn't she?). "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"But even so... I'm sorry, for... not, at least, trying." Her mother apologized. "Is there anything I can do to... make it up to you?"

Chandra wanted to say that there was really nothing- she didn't really resent her for having sent her to the academy, at least not anymore. But she could tell her mother needed something clear her guilty conscious, and telling her there was nothing she could do probably wouldn't improve things. For once, she wanted a summer to end on a good note instead of a bad or an awkward one.

"Just... try to be a little more accepting from now on. The world is changing, even though we can't see it, but... even one person standing up for people like me is going to make a world of difference to somebody." Chandra smiled.

"I... I suppose it's for the best I should..." Her mother nodded, looking down at the floor. "Two of my own children are mages, so it would be a bit hypocritical of me not to be... more accepting than I have been in the past."

"Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to call Charles. I promise, he'll actually pick up this time." Chandra added. "I'm sure he'll appreciate a... similar speech."

"And you? Will you be just as easy to reach- You're not going to lose your phone in some freak accident and not tell me like last time, right?" Her mother asked, a slight smile finally creeping across her lips. Chandra chuckled slightly under her breath, nonchalantly shrugging.

"I don't know, I can't make any promises about that. That and I'll be so busy- it is my senior year after all, and I'll have a lot of work to do and all..." She was obviously joking and refused to hide it, but she could see her mother's shoulder slump and that was enough for her to drop the charade. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'll try to call more often, I promise." She couldn't make any promises about losing her phone, but at the least she could promise that.

A strong cup of coffee and an even stronger hug goodbye later and Chandra was preparing to leave, her boxes messily thrown into the back seat of her truck. In a way she was grateful it had just been her mother and her- if everyone else had been there, there would have hardly been any time at all to speak with her like she had. It left her feeling warm inside- or maybe it was the last remaining effects of the coffee, she wasn't sure. But the smile on her face surely wasn't.

Starting the truck, she took one last look around at the street her childhood home was situated on: a quiet picturesque shot of suburbia, quiet and comfortable and neat. This was her home, but she knew deep down she belonged somewhere much different- a place of winding, maze-like hallways and dark secrets, and a place where her friends were. Her mother had expressed regret she had sent her away, but that place had become her new home, and it was to that place that Chandra was returning once more.

"Next stop: Ravnica Academy!" She said to no one in particular as she craned her neck around and began to back out of the driveway. And as her eyes scanned the back seat, she recalled the last time she had seen her friends crammed in the back at the beginning of the summer of the previous year on their quiet trip to the ruins. Chandra sighed sourly before shaking her head, attempting to throw the negative feelings off.

They'd come back- eventually, everyone always returns to where they belong.

 


	2. All the Old Familiar Places

Chandra arrived at the student apartments that afternoon, legs numb from sitting so long and stomach aching from having only eaten fast food on the drive back to the Ravnica Academy campus. Hopping out of her truck and greeting the place where she'd be spending her final year at the academy, she threw her hands high above her head and stretched, a sound exiting her mouth that sounded like the mix of a yawn and a roar. Nothing sounded better than a nap and meal that didn't consist of soggy burgers and lukewarm fries. And all that stood in her way of achieving that were hauling the last of her belongings up to her room. Part of her just wanted to leave the boxes in her car, but she knew very well if she didn't get it done then, they'd never actually get removed.

"It's going to be a lot more difficult getting these up stairs that it was carrying them down." She grumbled as she struggled to get the boxes out of her car. The student apartments were very nice, just the right distance from the academy campus and surrounded on all sides by nice views of the town, but if it was one thing Chandra didn't like the sound of it was that there was no way to get from floor to floor aside from stairs. And, of course, her apartment just happened to be on the top floor- one out of six, which meant, at the very least, that her legs would be getting a good workout throughout the year.

"Oop-!" She gasped as she yanked the boxes from out of the back seat, maybe a little too forcefully, as she began to stumble backward. It wasn't so much the contents of the boxes she was worried about as it was that she knew how ungraceful she could be, and wouldn't it be awful to start the year with a shattered wrist?

However, much to her surprise- and relief- someone appeared behind her and caught her before she could fall to the pavement below. Quickly righting herself, Chandra spun around, her cheeks flushed red, afraid a random, unsuspecting stranger had just been inconvenienced by her clumsiness. But, much to her relief, a familiar face greeted her, and Chandra allowed herself to relax.

"Kiora!" She sighed. "Thanks for the save! You probably quite literally saved my ass just now."

"Still as clumsy as ever." Kiora chuckled, the fins on her face and arms flapping about slightly as she laughed. "How was your summer? I don't see a tan, but you definitely have a lot more freckles, so you must have gotten _some_ sun, at least."

"Heh heh." Chandra grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I just stayed at my folks house. I never see them during the school year, so I try to make up for lost time at home."

"You hardly went outside, didn't you?" Kiora smirked.

"Okay, so sometimes I would sleep in until the sun set, but can you really blame me? It was summer, not like I had anything I had to take care of!" Chandra groaned, readjusting her grip on the boxes she held as she began to make her way to the apartment building. "What about you? I hardly heard from you, did you have a lot of training camps for swimming?"

"Well, naturally." Kiora shrugged, rolling her eyes as she matched Chandra's pace. "But I also did a little _traveling_ of my own."

Chandra didn't even have to ask, she knew just by Kiora's tone what she mean by "traveling", and it wasn't just trips to the beach. Not really wanting the conversation to venture to where it normally would, she did nothing but give a slight, knowing nod and offered up a quick, "That sounds nice."

"You really ought to explore the multiverse once in a while, Chandra." Kiora dreamily sighed, hands cupped behind her head. "Like, maybe over fall break I can finally show you Zendikar! I mean, the places that are still getting rehabilitated are really depressing, but the places that were untouched by the Eldrazi are just so breathtaking! And the _hedrons_ \- I need to show you the pictures I took while I was there!"

"No thanks." Chandra said sharply, her tone seeming to drop the temperature around them by a few degrees. Kiora jumped a bit, her mouth open in protest, but in the end all that escaped her was a sigh as she shook her head.

"Aren't you even a little curious? To find the plane you originally came from?" Kiora asked, sounding oddly hopeful.

"I'm from Ravnica, Kiora, same as you." Chandra grumbled.

"You know what I mean." Kiora huffed, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "You've been given an incredible gift, but you haven't even used it!"

"Look, when I want to go exploring I'll do it, okay? I don't have any incentive to go right now, so just drop it."

"Oh! I know why." Kiora chuckled. "You're afraid that, if you do go, then _they_ will show you and you won't be here to see them!"

"Wow, nice job, detective, you really solved the mystery!" Chandra snapped, throwing Kiora a cold look. " _Now_ can we drop it?"

"Yeesh, okay, sorry. You're still missing out on a lot of cool, stuff, you know?" Kiora sighed as the two of them entered the building. There wasn't much in way of a lobby, the main entrance just led directly into the hallways leading to the ground-level apartments and to the stairs leading to other floors. Chandra shuffled about for a moment, reaching into her pocket to pull out the crumpled print-out with her room number listed on it.

"So... what are you doing here so early? Not like you to want to get a head start on things." Kiora brought up, attempting to clear the air.

"I just wanted to beat the rush. It'll be easier to get to my room this way, and I'll have a chance to rest before things get too rowdy." Chandra explained, heading for the stairs. "What about you? You're here pretty early yourself."

"Heh, well, if you must know," Kiora said, grinning from gill to gill, "I came here early because I had to finalize paperwork for my guild. From now until we graduate, you're looking at the new guildleader of the Simic Combine."

"Wow, really, congratulations!" Chandra grinned, only to have it become a smirk as she narrowed her eyes. Kiora was quick to catch Chandra's suspicious look and glared back at her.

"Wipe that look off your face, I'm serious! What reason would I have to lie about something like that!?" She growled.

"Oh, I don't know, it's just the last time you were made 'guildleader', it was under the influence of mind control, so..." Chandra teased.

"Why you- that's _ancient history_ at this point!" Kiora cried. "I've put a lot of time and effort into Simic, there's no reason I shouldn't be made guildleader!"

"I don't know, I'm still not convinced. How am I do be sure it's really Kiora in there this time?" Chandra chuckled as she quickly reached up and poked Kiora on the gem that was nestled on her forehead.

"I don't know, maybe summoning thousands of crabs to come and snip at you in the middle of the night will convince you!" Kiora playfully threatened- but even then it wasn't too clear if she was joking, or being serious. She could summon huge sea beasts, after all, summoning a few hundred crabs probably would be effortless for Kiora. But, before Chandra could figure out if Kiora really planned on sicking droves of crustaceans on her, a voice called out to them from the top of the stairs.

"Miss Nalaar, Miss Atua! How nice to run into you two here!" Both Chandra and Kiora froze mid-step and looked up to see Teysa Karlov herself and all of her well-dressed and ill-meaning glory standing just a few steps above them.

"Hey, Chandra, I just remembered, I left something back at the Simic meeting room!" Kiora exclaimed after a quick, awkward silence. "You don't need my help getting those boxes up to your room, right? Right!" And before Chandra could get a word in edgewise, the merfolk girl had spun around and was leaping back down the stairs.

"H-hey!" She stammered, watching her friend turn tail and flee.

"Good luck crab-proofing your room, Chandra!" Kiora laughed as she vanished, leaving Chandra to face her foe who was still patiently waiting for her at the top of the stairs. She stood her ground at first, but the ache in her arms from holding her boxes urged her onward.

It had been early in her junior year that Teysa had grown a fascination with her. Planeswalkers had slowly made their way into the public eye, what with people suddenly vanishing and returning, claiming to have visited other worlds, and people showing up out of nowhere, claiming to be from all manner of alternate planes of reality. Consulates for travelers had been set up, and the concept of there being other planes besides Ravnica began to grow- and just as quickly became romanticized. And, out of all the people with sparks on campus, Teysa had somehow dug up enough dirt to find out that Chandra was a planeswalker, and immediately went about trying to forcibly implant herself into Chandra's circle of friends. She had hoped that not actually doing much of anything with her spark would leave Teysa bored of her, but there she was, a year later, trying to live her life vicariously through her despite the fact that Chandra never planeswalked, or even entertained the idea.

"So... you have a nice summer, Teysa?" Chandra grumbled as she joined her at the top of the stairs.

"Of course! It's always a welcome treat to get out of this quiet little nowhere town and escape to somewhere with a much better night life." Teysa chuckled as she followed Chandra up the next flight of stairs. "I mean, the things that stay open passed nine here are the bars and the diner, and who even goes there? So getting out of this place for a few months is always refreshing."

"Is that so..." Chandra grumbled, unsure of how to take Teysa trashing her favorite spot in town.

"But it certainly isn't anything compared to what _you_ probably did over the summer!" Teysa gushed. "Forget vacation spots here, you have an infinite number of places to visit! It must be wonderful!"

"Teysa, dear gods, we've been over this, I have no plans to go off and planeswalk- not now." Chandra muttered, already feeling a headache coming on.

"Oh, how boring!" Teysa complained. "I have a friend a few cities over who happened to ignite her spark last year, and already she's been traveling the multiverse! Her blog makes me drool with envy. Places like Theros and Fiora and Kaladesh- nowhere on Ravnica can even compare!"

"Must really suck being stuck here with the rest of us, then, huh?" Chandra rolled her eyes.

"But _you're_ not, though!" Teysa protested. "Aren't you even slightly curious to see what's out there!? I mean, your friends Jace and Liliana left a while ago, didn't they? Why haven't you done the same?"

"You know, I think I liked you better when you were one of Bolas' mind-controlled henchmen." Chandra grumbled.

"What was that?" Teysa asked. "I can't hear you over this huge opportunity you keep wasting!"

"Hold on, just a second, I just remembered something." Chandra suddenly spoke up as she set her boxes down. "I got you a little something- a _souvenir_."

"A souvenir?" Teysa asked. "By that do you mean- you actually _did_ travel somewhere, I knew it! Is it a little thopter from Kaladesh!? A good luck charm from Kamigawa!?"

"It's a crusty sock, from under my bed! Enjoy!" Chandra shouted as she threw just that at Teysa, glad to be rid of the piece of clothing that had achieved a nearly solid state, and also glad to be lobbing it at Teysa, who gasped and quickly backed up while Chandra made her escape.

"You're a planeswalker, Chandra! You should take advantage of that!" Teysa shouted after her, finally at least realizing where she wasn't wanted.

"True, but you forgot that I don't give a damn!" Chandra shouted over her shoulder as she trotted up the stairs. Unfortunately she was only able to keep up the pace until she reached the next floor, but at least she'd gotten Teysa out of her hair, and that was at least worth it. She made it up to the last few levels huffing and puffing, but at least she was finally left in peace.

"Kiora rubs her visiting Zendikar in my face... Teysa just wants to surround herself with planeswalker buddies like were accessories..." Chandra panted as she finally reached the sixth floor, pausing to rest the boxes she carried on the ground and to stretch her arms, shake out her wrists and give her aching fingers a break. "It's anybody satisfied with the fact that I'm okay with staying here!?"

The soft sound of somebody clearing their throat made her jump, and Chandra turned down the hallway she had thought had been empty to spy two people standing outside one of the doors.

"O-oops, didn't realize I had company..." Chandra mumbled, embarrassed, as she reached back down and picked up her boxes. Her audience made no other indication that they were aware of her presence as Chandra walked by in shame- taking a quick peek to see who her audience to her complaining to herself had been.

They were two older people- definitely not students- dressed in suits and standing at either side of one of the apartment doors. One of them was an older woman, the signs of aging starting to show on her face in light wrinkles, as well as her hair that was just barely starting to gray- although neither of those things seemed to take away from her harsh, intimidating beauty. The other was a man who had darker skin and seemed to have rocks growing out of his body- definitely some sort of rare magic folk, although Chandra couldn't take the time to stop and stare to figure out just what exactly he was. Not that he or the woman were paying Chandra any mind- they both seemed very dedicated to standing vigilantly outside the apartment they were... guarding?

'What the hell?' Chandra thought as she passed them by. Had somebody of note actually enrolled? Somebody famous, or royalty? If it were either of those things, she could only imagine Teysa would have paused in the middle of berating her about her disinterest in planeswalking to talk about gossip as hot as that. And Chandra had certainly not heard a word about anybody important enrolling herself. Ever since the... _incident_ with Niv Mizzet, there hadn't been very many high-profile students transferring to the academy. She dared to take one more quick peak over her shoulder as she passed them, but a rather intimidating look from the woman was enough to send a shiver up Chandra's spine and send her walking at twice the speed down the hall to her new room.

'Whatever, I guess whoever they're looking after won't be a mystery for long. Almost everyone in this school is a gossip, I'm sure I'll catch wind of something eventually.' Chandra assured herself as she finally arrived at her room.

The apartments had no keys to get lost or codes to forget in order to access them, like at the dorms. Each student had been sent a special spell to use to access their rooms- just another random way that the academy mixed magic with the mundane, as if they were trying to remind everyone why they were there in the first place. Setting down her boxes, Chandra looked down at her crumpled printout, unable to make out her own access spell easily on the tragically wrinkled and stained paper, and of course it only made things worse that two mysterious strangers were a mere few doors down to watch her try and fail multiple times, like she was a young mage trying out a simple spell for the first time.

"Gods, maybe if these halls weren't so dimly lit..." She muttered to herself, squinting down at the paper. Maybe a trip to the campus was in order, as embarrassing as it would be to have it seem that she couldn't handle a simple spell to gain access to her own apartment. "'Print out the paper early, Chandra, that way you won't forget later' like they haven't seen what happens to my homework after keeping it around in my backpack for a day. I should have waited..."

"Chandra!" A voice calling her name tugged her from her frustrated concentration, and she jerked away from her paper with an angry huff. Immediate regret soon settled in when she realized she wasn't getting bothered by Teysa or about to get teased by Kiora, but instead was getting a surprise by Avacyn and... surprisingly _just_ Avacyn.

"A-Avacyn! You're here!" Chandra exclaimed, giving her friend a warm, welcome hug that the pale-haired girl gently returned. Chandra could hardly even feel her hands as she embraced her- it felt more like a ray of sunshine resting on her back. "How have you been? Did you bring anyone else, because if that's the case, a housewarming party is going to have to wait. This stupid door won't..."

"No, I came here by myself. Nobody else has arrived yet, so I figured this would be the perfect time." Avacyn explained simply.

"Huh? Perfect time for what?" Chandra asked curiously. Avacyn glanced over her shoulder at the other two people in the hallway cautiously, her eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly. It was such a small gesture, Chandra wondered if she had just been seeing things.

"I'll explain later, all I ask right now is for you to come with me." She sparsely explained. Chandra furrowed her brow in confusion, but shrugged. Avacyn wasn't the type of person who would go out of her way to waste people's time- a nap and a meal would have to wait.

"Sure- just... give me a second, I just need to get this box inside with this stupid spell..." Chandra looked back down at her paper, but before she could even begin to focus, Avacyn flicked her wrist effortlessly and the lock inside the door gave a satisfying click, and the door lazily swung open. "H-how did you-?"

"It's a simple access spell, Chandra." Avacyn stated matter-of-factly. Chandra felt her cheeks grow red.

"O-of course! I-I mean, I bet it's simple, my paper was just..."

"We really should get going." Avacyn interrupted her with the faintest of smiles. "Time is of the essence."

"Right." Chandra sighed as she shoved her boxes into the room with her foot and quickly shut the door, the sound of them topping over and spilling their contents all over the floor echoing from the other side. She looked to Avacyn with a nervous laugh. "Let's get going!" With a curt nod, Avacyn turned around and began to lead Chandra down the hallway, down the stairs and out of the apartment building.

"So... how was your summer? Do anything worth while?" Chandra pried, finding comfort in knowing the Avacyn wouldn't be bothering her with tales of planeswalking. Avacyn was bound to Ravnica- a solid rock in a rolling sea.

"I kept watch over the Academy while my father visited Innistrad. He's returned now, and nothing about him seems like there were any problems." Chandra flinched a bit at the mention, but Avacyn's tone was calm and collected as she spoke about a subject that would have bothered her greatly in the past. It seemed she had made peace with the eventuality of Sorin spending more and more time on another plane the closer that her college graduation got, in contact with the _other_ Avacyn. It made Chandra very pleased to hear and had her involuntarily smiling. "Not that I was lonely- I had Tajic and Lavinia for company a lot of the time."

"Oh hoh, I smell romance." Chandra playfully teased.

"More like cleaning supplies. Lavinia wasn't a very big fan of how the Markov family house had been kept, since father obviously wouldn't dare hire someone to tidy the place for us and it's difficult to clean the place myself. So she roped in Tajic and the three of us tidied up the place..." Avacyn paused a bit, looking up at the clear, blue sky. "Though I suppose the summer being completely devoid of romantic things wouldn't be completely accurate."

"That's definitely a story I'd like to hear over a slice of pie at the diner, you dog!" Chandra laughed, slapping Avacyn on the back.

"Yes, yes, there will be more than enough time for all that." Avacyn coughed slightly as the two of them arrived at the school building. "For now we have more important matters to discuss."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Chandra rolled her eyes. "Hmm, I wonder if Emmara is here already- maybe we could visit her!"

" _Later_." Avacyn said sternly. "We'll have all the time in the world for visits and pies and our love lives once were finished, but for now we need to stick to the task at hand."

"Sorry..." Chandra mumbled as Avacyn led her inside. "What is it, by the way, our 'task at hand'? Can you tell me _now_?"

"Not just yet- at least, I can't get into specifics. What I've brought you here for is totally private, and we can't risk it being heard by anyone." Avacyn explained.

"Wow, really, that top secret huh...?" Chandra said thoughtfully. "...Are you sure this isn't about the stuff you, Tajic and Lavinia did over the summer? I mean, I understand if it's really not safe for work but I mean, people are pretty open minded to-"

" _This school_ harbors a lot of _secrets_." Avacyn pointedly cut her off. "Ones me and my father have guarded for all these centuries. It's the type of thing we couldn't entrust the knowledge of to anyone... until now. The events in the maze have deemed you more than trustworthy, but it would be tempting fate to allow everyone to be privy to this information. So, it's been decided by my father and I that you be entrusted with this secret."

"Me!? I mean, I'm flattered, believe me, but a little voice in my head called 'low self esteem' is really questioning why you'd pick me. I mean, if you wanted trustworthy, there's Gideon- heck, Tajic and Lavinia, too. Maybe not Ral, though..." Chandra began to drone on. "Although he was really good at keeping his feelings for Jace a secret..."

"I understand this might come to you as a blow to your ego, but it's your vicinity to the academy campus."

"...eh?"

"You're a very fine mage, Chandra, you all are, and you have all gained our trust enough, but we chose you because you'd be able to reach the school the fastest out of all of us, should me or my father not be present, if somebody breaks in and aims to take what this school holds.

"Well, you sure were right about the blow to the ego..." Chandra muttered.

"You should be proud you were among those that we trusted at all. What I'm about to show you is something we couldn't dare to tell you about before, when the mess concerning the maze was happening, and something we haven't been able to find anyone to trust with all this time."

"Like what?" Chandra asked, as the two of them arrived in an all-too-familiar security room. "The secret library? Because I _do_ remember that."

"It's something inside the library- something we couldn't tell you about before. Not while... Liliana was here, at least." Avacyn admitted as the doors to the elevator that would take them down below the school opened before them.

"What's all this have to do with Lili?" Chandra asked, cocking a brow suspiciously.

"It has... a lot to do with Liliana, actually." Avacyn admitted as they boarded and the doors closed. "Well... not the one you know, anyway. This has to do with her past- with the original Liliana Vess who fought here, thousands of years ago, in the war against Bolas. And if our Liliana is even a fraction like who she was reincarnated from, then... well let's just say for now that we would have had more than just the issues with Bolas on our hands then."

"Like what? What is this all about!?" Chandra questioned impatiently.

"It will all be explained to you shortly, for now I just ask you understand, and be patient." Avacyn sighed as the elevator slowly came to a halt.

"It's a little hard to be patient when you tell me you have something you couldn't trust somebody you entrusted _the fate of all of Ravnica_ with." Chandra narrowed her eyes. "You've said it yourself that nobody can find out what we do or say down here, so I think now's a good time to start- GAH!" After taking only a few steps out of the elevator, it became instantly clear that somebody was standing right where they were about to get out, and that person was none other than Sorin, looking unimpressed as usual.

"Miss Nalaar, you've finally arrived." He greeted her, his voice cold enough to freeze water. "I take it Avacyn has already told you as much as she could about why you're here."

"Y-yes, and, er- sorry, you know, about just shouting in your face like that." Chandra apologized nervously. Sorin was exactly the perfect mix of terrifying school dean and actual, real life vampire to make Chandra a little more than weary about how she behaved around him. "It's just... I didn't expect to see you _right there_ and, well, you _are_ a little creepy looking..."

"Indeed..." Sorin said, sounding unamused as he cleared his throat. The dry noise was enough to make Chandra stand up straight, and the look he gave her was enough to make her feel small. "And there's little doubt your curiosity has been peaked to the point of impatience by now. And with Avacyn now at the college campus and Liliana still very-much absent, unable to complicate things, we figured it would be wise to share another one of this school's more larger secrets exclusively with you."

"A-About that!" Chandra piped up. "Why do you keep on bringing up Liliana? Why was her being around keeping you from telling anyone about... whatever this is all about? You trusted her before with stopping Bolas and saving the multiverse, why would you suddenly be all weary of her!?"

"Because she is the one who brought it here thousands of years ago." Sorin said icily. "And there's no telling whether or not she'd still be inclined to take is with her as a means to kill her remaining demons."

"Like, what, a weapon?" Chandra questioned, but instead of answering, Sorin turned towards the walls of books and proceeded inward, casting a quick look over his shoulder as instruction for Chandra and Avacyn to follow after him.

"During the war with Bolas that nearly decimated this plane, I managed to come into possession of many weapons of those who had passed- many tools that hold amazing power and could conjure horrible amounts of havoc if they fell into the wrong hands. Some were weapons belonging to gods, others were spells that could spell disaster if they were ever used without caution. And, Liliana... she left behind a relic nothing short of cursed. It holds incredible, terrifying power, possessed by the spirits of the creatures who created it. And, if it were to fall into the wrong hands..."

"Wh-what is it?" Chandra dared to ask as Sorin guided them through the twisting shelves, leading them deeper and deeper into the library. "Why haven't you just tried to destroy it!?"

"The spirits that possess the artifact are... a very persuasive lot. I'm certainly many have tried to do such a thing before, but failing to do so myself only once, and nearly succumbing to their nefarious will myself was enough to make me realize it would take more than a spell or simple brute force to rid the multiverse of the relic and it's curse." Sorin explained, stopping before a wall where an intricate series of designs and reliefs had been carved. Chandra remembered passing it by once or twice when her and the others had studied in the library and thought nothing of it, but now that she was standing before it, aware there was possibly something beyond, she couldn't help but feel... something- a gentle pull that raised the hairs on the back of her neck and made her heartbeat quicken.

"What... what kind of relic...?" She gulped as Sorin ran a pale hand over the stone. The entire wall seemed to shift, releasing dust and tiny chunks of the rock itself disturbed from the surface that rained down over them. Along with that one, large shudder, the intricate designs began to twist and curl away, like they were vines, until they revealed a doorway.

"See for yourself." Sorin commanded with a nod into the darkness. Chandra looked from him back to the chamber and clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. There was something- not necessarily alive that had a physical form that could tear at her flesh, but there was definitely _something_ in there.

"Father, I don't think-! Avacyn began to protest.

"She needs to experience it, if only for a moment. She needs to feel the evil intent that lurks in there to truly motivate her to protect this place." Sorin cut her off, holding out his arm to block her path to try and intercept Chandra. "I have, and so have you, and we know _exactly_ what we're protecting the multiverse from. She needs to know as well."

"I-I've faced Nicol Bolas and lived to tell the tale. This... this should be cake." Chandra attempted to assure her friend, but it came out so unconvincing it actually left her feeling even less motivated to take a step into the darkness. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, fighting against her own bodies natural instincts to flee. "I can do this."

All noise seemed to vanish the second she stepped into the secret room. The hallow echo that drifted through the library couldn't reach her ears, even though it was only a step away. Chandra took a breath- and then another- and then one more for good measure before she opened her eyes. Her vision adjusting to the darkness, she made out the shapes and shadows of a hoard of weapons and tools, and walls of old, tattered books that lined the walls. She could feel mana creeping from almost every object in the room, and it overwhelmed her, but she knew deep down that none of them were what Sorin had been warning her about. They were all objects of great power, but none of them felt _evil_.

She looked about, venturing deeper into the chamber. It was so strange, how she couldn't even hear her own breath or her own heart beating furiously against her chest. However, then, all at once she heard something- a whisper in a language she didn't speak that sent a shiver up her spine. It was a series of voices, and the fear they inspired ripped the air from her lungs and caused tears to spring from her eyes. She felt as if she had been offered up as a sacrifice to a starving beast that lurked in the darkness.

But, somehow, despite her fear, there was the sense of temptation that bubbled up from below the surface. The promise of power, of armies that would answer only to her, of things she'd never be able to obtain on her own. Chandra tried desperately to fight the urge, but the voices appealed to something deeper- a greed she didn't even know she had, and they latched on to it. Without even realizing it, Chandra outstretched her hand, reaching out into the darkness. And, for a split second, she felt something in the inky black take it.

"That's enough." The chilling voice of Sorin suddenly reached her ears as she felt herself being jerked backward back into the cool light of the library- back into reality and back into her own body it felt like. She felt herself being flung backward before getting caught in a warm embrace. Everything seemed fuzzy and distant, but she could just barely make out Avacyn kneeling over her and the wall before them hide the entrance to the chamber.

"Wh-what-?" Chandra gasped, wrapping her arms around herself as her senses slowly sharpened.

"Chandra, are you alright!?" Avacyn asked as she reached down to rest her hand against Chandra's cheek. "She's cold as ice... Father, I told you we shouldn't have-!"

"It was necessary, and you know it. Now that she's felt it, now she knows just how important it is that we keep anyone from going in and retrieving it."

"What was that?" Chandra asked, realizing she was trembling. "What _was that_!?"

"That, Miss Nalaar, was the Chain Veil."

"The... Chain... Veil..." Chandra repeated. She knew she heard those words before somewhere. Someone hard warned her about something similar, she knew it. But, before she could even grasp it, her vision blurred and then went dark as she blacked out.

_Beware... the veil..._

* * *

 

When Chandra awoke once more, the orangish light of the setting sun hit her eyes, forcing her to squint as she groaned in discomfort. Her head ached, and the light surely didn't make things any better, so she rolled over and turned away from the light- wait, where was she even lying? She could feel the firmness of a mattress beneath her, and could hear voices softly whispering, just barely managing to reach her ears, but not enough where she could really pick up what they were saying. The smell that drifted through the air- the scent of tea and medicine- the sound of a teapot beginning to softly whistle, they were all familiar.

"The... nurse's office..." Chandra mumbled to herself before cracking her eyes open. Sure enough, she could see the other cots set up in the room and the shelves stocked with medication and mismatched, colorful tea cups. All that was left was the school nurse herself, no doubt the owner of one of the voices.

"Oh, one moment- Chandra... Are you finally awake?" As always, the voice of Emmara, the school nurse, was warm and comforting, and even the simplest of words seemed to wrap around Chandra like a blanket.

"Mnn... what time is it?" Chandra groaned as she slowly began to sit herself up. Her entire body felt heavy and her vision swam as she moved.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that! And please don't exert yourself more than you can manage. Avacyn told us all about what happened." Emmara urged.

"Sh-she did!?" Chandra exclaimed, turning to Emmara in surprise.

"Yes, about how you hadn't eaten anything at all day on your trip here! You really should have least taken a rest or had a meal before you came here to reprint your paperwork!" Emmara scolded. "Imagine the shock I had when the first glimpse I have of you after summer break is limp in Avacyn's arms! I know students entering their senior year do tend to overboard a bit and forget to properly take care of themselves, but the school year hasn't even begun yet. Just... let this be a lesson... to..." Emmara paused, realizing that Chandra's attention was no longer on her, but the person who she had formerly been speaking with who was staring right back nervously, a half-eaten pastry held aloft and kept in place.

She was certainly a stranger to Chandra, definitely not one of the regular staff. She had long, black, slightly messy hair and slanted eyes that held a cruel beauty- unlike her posture, that was awkward and nervous. She was dressed plainly but properly with a blue dress shirt and black slacks, and with each passing second she seemed to whither ever-so-slightly under Chandra's gaze.

"U-um..." She muttered as she looked to Emmara for help.

"Oh, right! Chandra, this is Narset." Emmara cheerily introduced. "She-"

"Don't tell me..." Chandra interrupted, resting her chin knowingly between her thumb and forefinger. "All those lonely nights spent without Nissa while she travels to Zendikar and you've finally taken on another lover- and a human at that! Would Nissa approve, or does she even know? Goodness, what a way for a newly-married woman to behave-"

"Chandra Nalaar!" Emmara gasped, her face a deep shade of red. Narset's mouth was hanging open, and Chandra stifled a chuckle. "You... We may be friends, but you forget that I am also a staff member here at the school and you should treat me with _some_ respect! Liliana used to tease me, but never like this!"

"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to see how you'd react. I _may_ have taken things a little too far." Chandra laughed as she grinned apologetically.

"Oh... well, at least it seems you're feeling alright." Emmara sighed. "But you should really be apologizing to Miss Narset. I'm certainly used to your antics, but this is all very unfamiliar territory for her!"

"N-no, it's fine, really! You did warn me you were friends with some of the students here... I should have expected something like this." Narset exclaimed.

"I honestly hope you weren't expecting one of them to come in here and accuse us of committing adultery..." Emmara muttered before shaking her head.

"Well, if she's not some secret lover, who is she to you, then?" Chandra smirked.

"Goodness..." Emmara huffed as she shook her head. "Miss Narset was one of the nurses who oversaw my recovery when I was hospitalized during... well, you know..." Chandra gave her a knowing nod. "We became friends since then, and she would have been there for mine and Nissa's wedding had an emergency at work not come up."

"Sorry..." Narset sighed guiltily.

"In any case, you'll be seeing a lot more of her from now on. She's been brought on to help me as a nurses aid, so that I can better balance my duties as the school nurse with being the Selesnya guildleader." She paused, giving Chandra a warning look. " _Please_ do try to go easy on her. I know how much you like to cause trouble..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Chandra denied playfully. "But, regardless, a friend of yours is a friend of mine. So long as she's as good at making tea as you are, she has my blessing."

"I can attest to that." Emmara laughed just as someone opened the door to the nurses office to join them. They all turned to find Avacyn entering the room, a small stack of papers tucked under her arm.

"Welcome back, Avacyn, you're just in time for tea." Emmara greeted. "And Chandra finally woke up while you were out."

"I'm sorry to have bothered the both of you like this." Avacyn politely apologized. "I'm sure you had things you had to do today, showing Miss Narset around the building and all."

"Nonsense, it's no bother at all, right, Narset?" Emmara asked, turning to her companion with a smile.

"I'm actually an alumni of the academy, so I know my way around well enough. I was able to fill out all the necessary paperwork while Miss Nalaar was sleeping anyway, so there's no reason to apologize." Narset assured her.

"And even if we did have other matters to attend to, the student body of the academy come first. It would be irresponsible of us to leave Chandra alone in the state she was in. Which, by the way, I'm sure she has a few things to attend to with moving in to the student apartment building, but I won't let her leave until she's had some pain killers and an extra large cup of tea." Emmara turned to Chandra, who gave an obedient nod. The reason for her having to be taken to the nurse's office was a lie, but some pain killers and a nice, hot cup of tea sounded excellent regardless.

The four of them sat together, bathed in the glow of the swollen, orange sun that sunk further and further down in the sky, drinking tea and sharing gossip of what had happened over the summer, and had Emmara heard anything from either Jace or Liliana (she hadn't). And, all throughout the conversation, Chandra couldn't help but notice Avacyn throwing curious, thoughtful glances Narset's way, who was more concerned in trying to keep up with the conversation to realize she was being closely observed. Something told Chandra that Narset, for as plain and innocent as she looked, was somebody else who was new and interesting that year.

"We've kept you two here long enough, and it looks like the color is finally returning to Chandra's cheeks." Emmara sighed as she stood and collected empty cups and mugs. Narset rose shortly after her, grabbing the spares Emmara couldn't quite hold. "You two can get a move on, we can handle the dishes."

"Thank you for looking after Chandra." Avacyn said politely, giving her friend a slight shove as the two of them stood.

"R-right. I promise, the next time I come in, it won't be because I collapsed from, er... fatigue." Chandra added, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"I certainly hope so." Emmara laughed.

"I-It was nice to meet you!" Narset spoke up as the two of them began to leave.

"You, too." Chandra smiled.

"Likewise." Avacyn gave a quick nod, giving Narset one last quick glance over before the two of them said their goodbyes and left.

At first, their trip down the hall was quiet, their feet making hallow noises against the floor being the only noises they made.

"So... um... Narset was pretty nice, wasn't she?" Chandra piped up, attempting to pry.

"So, are you prepared?" Avacyn asked suddenly.

"Er, what? For Narset? I mean, she's pretty new and a little shy but she seems friendly enough, I don't think I need to be-"

"You _know_ I'm not talking about Narset." Avacyn spoke cooly. "I need to hear you say you're prepared for the responsibility you've been given. Now that you've experienced it first hand I just... I worry or you, Chandra. You're a dear friend to me, and I need to know if you're up to this task."

Chandra gulped lightly, looking down at the hand that, at one time, had reached into what felt like the bowls of hell. She could still feel what had felt like a shadowy hand gripping back, pulling her deep into the abyss. However, with a long sigh, she clenched her hand and allowed it to drop down at her side.

"I can do it." She nodded before turning to Avacyn with a brave smile. "You and your creepy dad can count on me."

"Thank you." Avacyn heaved a relieved sigh as the two of them stepped outside. The lights that lit the walkway to the campus began to flicker on as the sky began to dim overhead. "I know we made it sound like we had just settled with you because you were the closest to the campus but... we do trust you. You're more than qualified to help us guard what we have hidden down there."

"Thanks. I needed a good ego stroke after passing out like a damn coward." Chandra snickered.

"Hey! Is that- Hey, guys, I found them!" The two of them perked up, hearing shouting from a short distance away. In the fading light of the sun, they could make out Ral, his back turned to them as he waved to what appeared to be the rest of their friends in a group not to far away from him.

"Hey!" Chandra shouted back, preparing to break out into a run before Avacyn reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Remember what we said. I know they're our friends, and we feel we can trust them with anything, but the fewer people who know about the Chain Veil, the better." She warned, tightening her grip on Chandra's arm just enough for it to sting. "Do you understand? Not even Gideon."

"I-I get it!" Chandra gasped. "Lip zipped!"

"Good." Avacyn said as she let go of Chandra's arm, and just in time for Gideon to reach them after having practically galloped in their direction and scoop Chandra up off the ground into a hug.

"Hey, you big lug, I missed you, too." Chandra wheezed as she barely managed to reach around and pat Gideon on the back. "But I'd really appreciate if you didn't send me right back to the nurses office, I don't want to overwhelm Emmara even before the first day of school."

"What, you were in the nurses office!?" Gideon gasped, immediately setting Chandra down on the ground as if she were made of fragile glass. "What for!? What happened!? You're not hurt, are you?" His hands hovered nervously around her as he inspected her body for injuries.

"No, no, nothing like that- just fainted when I came here to..." She paused and looked over to Avacyn cautiously. Without even skipping a beat, she handed her the papers she had been holding all that time, revealing a fresh, new copy of the printout that Chandra had practically destroyed. "Get a copy of the spell I need to get back into my apartment!" She looked down at the paper, noticing that someone- probably Avacyn- had written additional tips on the pages.

"What's this about Chandra fainting?" Lavinia asked as she, Tajic and Ral finally caught up with Gideon. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine, I just need to eat something." Chandra assured her.

"That's definitely something a slice of pie or two can fix, I think!" Gideon announced.

"Like we weren't going to get dragged along to have pie in the end anyway." Ral chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

"Only if Chandra's alright with it. She might need something a little more nourishing than pie." Tajic added. Gideon looked to him like he'd betrayed him and their friendship before turning back to Chandra with pleading eyes.

"Yeah..." Chandra smiled, feeling the chill, that had latched onto her since her terrifying encounter in the library, finally ease and be replaced by a calming warmth. Finally, they were together again: Her friends, her family, her home away from home. "Pie sounds great."


	3. Chandra and the Rabbit

The library hidden beneath Ravnica Academy was dead silent- that was Chandra's first, conscious thought. Even the faint whistle of wind blowing through the rows and rows of shelves of ancient books couldn't be heard. It was just Chandra- Chandra and her heartbeat- Chandra, her heartbeat and the intricately carved wall that stood between her and...

She gasped, suddenly in a panic. The only reason she could have possibly come down here by herself would have had to have been because of a break-in. Clutching her chest, she nervously looked around, suddenly noticing the faint sensation that she wasn't alone. She could feel it- a presence just behind her, where she couldn't quite see- a shadow just barely lurking at the edges of her peripheral vision. Someone had come for _it._ Somebody had come to take the Veil. A nervous knot built up inside of Chandra's chest as she gasped sharply and whipped around-

Only to be greeted with familiar, mocking laughter.

"So, I see you've finally found out about the Veil."

"Baltrice..." Chandra grumbled, reeling from embarrassment. "This is a damn dream..."

"This is more than just a dream, Chandra, this is a warning. You've taken up more than just the duty of playing guard dog for the Markovs- something that's much bigger than you. You'd be much better off just leaving this miserable, doomed plane while you still can." Baltrice warned.

"I'm not going anywhere." Chandra growled. "I'm staying put, and I'm keeping watch over the Veil. No amount of scare tactics from you is going to make me suddenly change my mind!"

"This plane is damned, Chandra. The moment Liliana Vess burdened Ravnica with the Chain Veil, this entire plane has been damned, and so are you if you don't heed my warning." Baltrice continued. "You've felt it's power, and you know full well there's still a very real threat somewhere in the multiverse. Ashiok will stop at nothing to get what they were promised, and the Chain Veil could very well help them in getting it."

"Well if that wispy little nightmare asshole wants the Chain Veil, they'll have to go through me. I've overcome them once, I can do it again, you know?"

"But can you stand against the people they can tempt into working with them?" Baltrice asked. "Keep in mind they were able to sway Bolas, and had it not been for all that business with Jace he could have easily torn this plane apart. If Ashiok could tempt someone whose powers and intellect are comparable to a god, they can now freely travel throughout the multiverse and find someone of comparable strength who might very much be tempted by the sheer power of the Chain Veil."

"We'll fight them and whoever they bring with them! We overcame Bolas, we can overcome whatever else Ashiok manages to scrape out of the multiverse!" Chandra shouted back, baling her hands tightly into fists to keep Baltrice from noticing they had begun to sweat and shake.

"Oh, but you know in your heart there's a large chance you'll fail. I'm a part of your conscious, I can feel your fear." Baltrice mocked as she drew near, tall enough to loom over Chandra when the two of them stood face to face. Chandra refused to break eye contact, even when she felt the other girl's cold fingertips graze below her chin to coax her to turn her head up all the more. " _Jace_ overcame Bolas. You were just a bystander- a playing piece to get him to where he needed to go. And where is Jace now, but gallivanting around the multiverse with his beloved, completely unaware of the danger you here are all still exposed to. And he isn't going to come back, because he doesn't care."

"You're lying... they promised..." Chandra snarled weakly.

"He doesn't care about this plane any more, and neither should you! You're everything I ever wanted to be, dammit, you can escape. You can be free of this wretched place just by the simplest thought."

This was the first time since the dreams had begun that the figment of Baltrice showed legitimate emotion aside from mocking or being ominously vague. It was as if she were a real person, and not just something Chandra's mind concocted from the ashes of past trauma.

"I can't... Ravnica is my home, and I'll defend it to my last breath!" Chandra finally snapped as she pushed forward, forcing Baltrice back, who stumbled slightly.

"Ravnica isn't a home... it's a prison. You've seen your home, I know you have. You caught the briefest glimpse, your memories of your past betray the lie that this place is where you belong." Baltrice glowered, her words growing sharp and clearly aimed to hurt. "Or are you just spinning your wheels here because the last time you were 'home' was when you left it- when Chandra Nalaar's foolishness killed her parents?"

"Shut up!" Chandra cried, visions of fire and the sounds of crying echoing in her ears. "Just shut up! I don't want to talk to you anymore!"

"You can push me out all you want Chandra, but you can't keep pushing back the fact you're in danger by staying here! Sooner or later, you're going to be faced with finally using that spark of yours, or perishing on Ravnica, the plane you love _so much_."

Chandra felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she heard the stone carvings of the intricately decorated wall behind her begin to shift to reveal the hidden weapons cache and the darkness that held a very real evil. She could feel the sensation of hands gripping her arms and legs, but she refused to look anywhere but forward back at Baltrice. Harsh whispers hissed in her ear, beckoning her into the darkness at her back.

"You've been given so many chances, Chandra." Baltrice sighed. "It would be a shame for the girl who wanted so desperately to live and be happy to perish so young."

In an act of desperation, Chandra reached out for something to grab onto before she was dragged into the shadows. However, with a sharp gasp that filled her lungs so fast it stung, she blinked and found herself reaching up towards the ceiling of her bedroom. She came to find herself panting heavily, as if she had just taken a long, grueling run, and sweating like it, too, as her arm remained stretched upwards. She clenched and unclenched her fist and moved her fingers one by one as she slowly- ever so slowly- came to grips with reality again.

 _I don't want to leave for fear they'll return, and I won't be here to see them. I don't want to leave because I'm afraid of going back_ there...

Chandra embraced those two thoughts bitterly as she carefully pulled her arm back towards herself and held her hand against her chest. She could feel her heartbeat frantically pounding against her chest, and counted each thud until they had grown slow and even once more. Only when she had calmed down did she begin to pick and choose bits and pieces from her dream, forming a meaning that would be much easier to swallow than the ghost of Baltrice literally haunting her and warning her about a very real threat still out in the multiverse.

It was the stress built up from the beginning of senior year mixed with constantly being worried she'd be woken up in the middle of the night about the Veil. Yeah, that had to be it... she could definitely go about her day living with that being the case. Just her subconscious running wild, that's all...

"Well..." She spoke aloud to herself as she rolled over to look at her alarm clock on her bedside table. It was a whole hour before it was even set to go off, but Chandra was wide awake and knew full well that single hour would have to be spent not venturing back into another potential nightmare. "At least I didn't set my bed on fire this time."

Chandra deeply considered just lying in bed until her alarm, but it only took a few minutes for her to grow restless. It was the first day of school- the first day of her final year as a high school student. All of her worries and doubts created by her awful dream were chased away by anticipation as she went about getting ready. She felt awfully mature, getting up early enough to take a proper shower to wash the sticky sweat from off her body, take time in picking out an outfit instead of just throwing on whatever she could find in the least amount of time and to sit down and make an actual breakfast that wasn't a handful of whatever she could find that was edible.

Sitting in her kitchen, looking out at the view she could see from her window and her partially furnished living room, Chandra thought to herself this would probably be the only time she'd ever get up in time enough to actually have a healthy morning routine. She knew herself well enough. Or, at least, given what had woken her up so early, she actively hoped.

A knock echoed from her front door, followed by familiar shouting, rousing Chandra from her musings.

"Chandra! Are you up!?" Came the voice of Kiora between knocks. "I better not have to drag you out of bed!"

Chandra couldn't help but wear a smug, victorious smile as she slunk over to the front door. There was some sort of joy she derived from being able to show her friend that she could function like a regular person in the morning, and there was no hiding it as she opened the door and watched as Kiora took a step back and looked her up and down in shock.

"Well. You're not answering the door in your underwear- I'm impressed." She said, placing her hands on her hips as she puzzled over the new development of Chandra getting herself up in the morning.

"Hey, if that's what you prefer, I'll happily oblige." Chandra sarcastically offered. Kiora made a face, obviously having seen enough of Chandra running around their dorm room in her skivvies to last a few, good lifetimes. "Hey, I'm a senior now- practically an adult at this point. Should it be any surprise I'm putting a little more effort in?"

"You're hardly what you could call an adult if getting up for school on time and answering the door looking decent is something to brag about." Kiora rolled her eyes. "I did come over a little early because I anticipated having to drag you out of bed, though. Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, I just made like... way too much coffee and I need to share it with someone or I'm going to be forced to drink all of it." Chandra smiled as she stepped out of the doorway, welcoming her friend in.

After a bit of coffee and reminiscing and riffling through boxes to find all of Chandra's books and her bag, the two of them headed out. Unlike when Chandra had arrived the first day, the hallways were bustling with other students making their way down the hall and stopping to converse. Chandra made an effort to look for the two people in suits she'd seen before, guarding one of the apartment doors, but they were nowhere to be seen in the throng. It was strange, not having to force herself not to make eye contact with them as she walked down the hall, since they'd been almost constant fixtures during the days leading up to the first day of school. She'd begun to wonder if they were actually constructs and not actual people, summoned to simply stand watch at the door and nothing else.

"So, miss 'practically an adult', what else do you have planned for your final year of high school?" Kiora asked in a tone that made Chandra unsure if she was actually just being teased. "Maybe joining a club or a sports team or... maybe a guild?"

"Gross, Kiora, I know you're a guildleader now but please don't go into guild recruitment mode around me. I have no interest in the guild system, and you know it." Chandra groaned. "And even if I did, Simic just... isn't my thing, no offense."

"Fine, then what _do_ you have planned?" Kiora huffed, defeatedly placing her hands on her hips. "Please tell me you don't plan on just sleepwalking through your final year of high school like you have been."

"Please don't say it like that, you sound like my counselor." Chandra sighed. "And I honestly don't know right now. All I know is... I want to do something big. I want to leave my mark on this school somehow, like have my name live in infamy for years to come."

"So we're going for infamy, huh?" Kiora asked, sounding almost exhausted. "And don't you think you've already peaked?"

"What do you mean!? I'm far from having peaked! I have much more up my sleeve!" Chandra gasped.

"More than saving, like, the entire multiverse?" Kiora asked as they descended the stairs. "I mean, that sounds like something that's going to be hard to top to me."

"No way..." Chandra shuddered as she stopped in the middle of the stairwell. "That... that can't be it! I couldn't have peaked when I was just a sophomore!"

"Hey, no need to be dramatic." Kiora said as she looked back at her distressed friend.

"Nobody except for the maze runners know about any of that! To everybody else it just looked like I did some silly school event and lost!" Chandra continued, hands pressed against her cheeks as she looked down at her shoes in disbelief. "In a silly LARPing costume, no less!"

"Hey, calm down, maybe? People are staring to stare!" Kiora complained before nervously waving at people who passed them on the stairs. "Look, if you can come up with something bigger than your act of saving countless lives throughout countless planes, you certainly aren't going to do it lamenting like it's the end of the world- ironically..."

"Kiora!" Somebody calling for her caused both girls to look to see two other merfolk girls rushing over to them. Chandra recognized them by their faces, but struggled to remember their names. They were friends of Kiora's- fellow guild members or teammates from the swim team or both, Chandra honestly never dug deep enough to even ask. They were apart of a different sphere in Kiora's life, and it was one Chandra was way out of orbit from. "Kiora, did you see her!?"

"See who?" Kiora asked. "You're going to have to be more specific, I've seen plenty of 'her's."

"The bunny girl!" One of them announced, waving their hands over their head to resemble long, floppy rabbit ears. "The really pretty one! The transfer student!"

"Bunny girl? Sorry, doesn't ring any bells- but a transfer student? What year is she in?" Kiora continued to pry.

"We saw her coming out of this building!" The other merfolk girl explained. "She was being shadowed by these two big goons in suits, but she looked really elegant, like royalty! I've never seen anyone like her- she must be apart of a really rare race of some kind!"

"We need to recruit her into joining Simic! Somebody as unique and mysterious as that ought to garner attention from outsiders!" The other nodded her head furiously.

Goons wearing suits... Chandra remembered the two suited people guarding the apartment on her floor. There was very little doubt that they were talking about them, as well as who they were guarding: some kind of beautiful rabbit person. In all honesty, all Chandra could think of was a person with a human body and a rabbit head- which would be a pretty rare race, if it was one, but probably wasn't it.

"Well, I'll have to look deeper into it than just word-of-mouth." Kiora sighed, though Chandra could tell by her body language that she was excited at the prospect of Simic gaining any kind of notoriety. "Let's not try and bounce this girl on the first day- we need to be careful. It's difficult enough to get freshmen to join the guild system, let alone somebody who transferred her during their final year."

"Oh, right! There was also some fliers we wanted you to approve before we start hanging them. It won't take very long, we just want to get a head start on everyone else." One of her friends added.

"Oh, well..." Kiora looked guiltily over her shoulder to Chandra. "You don't mind if we split up here, do you? Guild business and all..."

"Do what you gotta do, I can walk myself to class." Chandra said with a smile. "I'm a big girl- I can handle myself."

"Somehow I doubt that..." Kiora muttered to herself before she began to descend the rest of the stairs. "Let's try to meet up after school- maybe when I'm done with guild stuff!?"

"Sounds great." Chandra said as she waved, not even trying to shout so Kiora could here her. She remained on the steps, waving her hand weakly before letting it fall limply at her side as Kiora vanished down the stairs. "See you later..."

Maybe it had been news that there was probably very little that could top saving the multiverse- as anonymous and altogether thankless as it had been- but Chandra couldn't help but give herself up to a sense of melancholy. She'd been so attached to her tightly-knit group of friends until then that she hardly had more than acquaintances. She had Kiora, an ex-roommate who she was able to grow a little familiar with at least since the both of them had run the maze and were in on what was probably an astronomical secret. But she had her guild, now more than ever now that she ran the thing, and swim team and a whole other circle of friends Chandra didn't even know the names of. And, if she stretched it, there was Teysa, but she could hardly call what they had a "friendship". Teysa just wanted a bunch of planeswalker friends, and only ever showed up when it was convenient for her and her alone. Chandra dug deep to think of anyone in her year who she could consider a close friend, but it wasn't long before she reached bedrock.

"Man... no friends, no plans... I must really be some kind of loser..."

* * *

Almost on instinct, Chandra found herself sitting on the bleachers overlooking the school football field once the school day was over. A small number of members of the football team who were out practicing recognized her and waved, to which Chandra gave a halfhearted wave back or a knowing nod, but not much else. Maybe she should go down and try to start a conversation, but what would they even talk about, now that Gideon wasn't around? What was she even doing there in the first place, for that matter? Obeying an old habit? Or was she putting off having to go back to her empty apartment to move around boxes and random objects aimlessly?

Everyone else she had encountered seemed to have had a more interesting day than her, it seemed, spurred by the siting of the girl Kiora's friends had mentioned that morning. Everyone had something different to say about her- about her skin was pure, untainted white, or how she moved almost as if she was gliding across the floor, or how she was constantly shadowed by two, intimidating body guards who looked like they had experience in killing a man (Chandra, having at least seen the both of them a few times before, believed that part wholeheartedly). No matter where she went, whispers about this mysterious new girl seemed to mingle in the very air Chandra breathed. And yet, somehow, she hadn't seen head, tail or rabbit ear (there was a very, very large emphasis on her being "like a rabbit" so Chandra could only assume she had them) of her. Maybe that was why she was still lingering on the school grounds, visiting old haunts she had no real business being in anymore- just holding out hope she could be graced by this myth of a girl.

"What am I even doing?" She asked herself as she looked down at her phone. She'd sent out texts to everyone, wondering if anyone wanted to meet up after classes, but the only person who had responded was Kiora, who had to turn down Chandra's invitation due to a long laundry list of extracurricular activities. "Even if I do meet her, who would want to associate themselves with me?"

For a second, she caught her reflection in the screen of her phone and groaned. For the briefest of seconds, she could see Baltrice's face looking back at her, smirking.

"Okay, so today was a total wash- no reason to lurk around pitying myself." She muttered as she got up to leave. "Also talking to myself, definitely a habit I don't want to pick up."

With no other choice of location, Chandra made her way back to the student apartments, being able to make out the very top of the building through the trees and over the tops of shorter buildings ahead. However, just as she began to jokingly consider continuing her streak from that morning of being generally responsible with her time and maybe even taking a whack at some of the homework she had been assigned, something inside her seemed to shift, leaving her feeling anxious. She froze in place, feeling as if the air around her had dropped several degrees as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Almost immediately, her heart began to thud against her chest, as if she hadn't just been taking a leisurely stroll back home.

"Could this... oh no, the Veil!" She gasped. It was either that or something she had eaten that day coming back with a vengeance, but there seemed to be a pull that urged her to head towards the school building. Visions of her nightmare from the other night flashed before her eyes, and in a panic and with a gasp that made her lungs sting she whirled around completely and began a desperate sprint back towards the school- a mad dash that only lasted a few moments before she completely collided with another person and knocked them onto the ground. Chandra lost her balance as well as she, too, fell to the pavement with a surprised cry.

"U-urgh... I- Gods, I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was... going..." Chandra began to apologize before she was able to focus, but once her vision had stopped reeling, she came to find a living legend sprawled on the pavement in front of her- and she was all and more what Chandra had been told.

Her skin was as white as snow, the only things standing out against her pure complexion were light-violet markings that traveled up from her cheek to her forehead. Her hair was just as white as her skin, rolled up into two loose buns at either side of her head, with some of it falling loosely at one side of her face- either naturally or from having wildly come into contact with Chandra. But the most interesting part were two flaps of skin that sprouted from the girl's forehead that were stretched over her head and circled back to hang over her shoulders and hang loosely near her chest, just like pair of floppy rabbit ears.

"Y-You! I finally found..." The moment of elation from having finally found the girl everyone couldn't shut up about took immediate backseat to what Chandra had been running to in the first place. Her stomach churned nervously as she quickly began to rise. "I-I'm sorry, but I'm in a real hurry so I can't-"

"Please, wait!" The girl suddenly begged, reaching out and grabbing Chandra by the wrist. Her voice had an almost musical sound to it, even when she was shouting.

"I can't I... I need to-" Chandra began to explain before she took a pause, noticing a certain lack of urgency and a complete absence of a chill in the summer breeze that lazily blew passed them. Chandra tried to focus, trying to sense the force she had felt before, as unsettling as it was, but it seemed that, just like the wind, whatever had been making her panic had passed. "Oh... it's gone..."

"Please!" The girl cried a second time, refusing to let Chandra's wrist go. "You have to help me!"

"Help you!?" Chandra asked, trying to hold herself back from sounding as eager as she felt. Suddenly she felt as if she was a her in the video games her brother used to play, being asked to go on a grand quest by a beautiful princess. "What's wrong?"

"Please, I need you to help hide me! I can't shake them on my own!" The girl went on, looking nervously over her shoulder.

"Hide you? F-from _who_!?" Chandra asked, feeling herself grow even more and more lost the more the girl tried to explain herself.

"Shh!" The girl hissed, tilting her head to one side before flying into a panic. "Quick! We need to hide!"

"Again, from _who_!?" Chandra asked once again. "I have no idea what's going- whaa!" Before she could even finish, the girl frantically pushed her backward into a bush that was lining the walkway and followed suit, pressing herself against her, probably to keep Chandra from leaping back up. And, before Chandra could even utter another syllable, the girl frantically covered her mouth with both of her hands, shushing her again before nervously looking over her shoulder, through the thick leaves. Chandra glared back at her, but restrained the urge to nip at the palms of the girls hands and listened as well. At first, all she heard was silence, then footsteps drawing near, followed by voices.

"Gods, where could that girl have gone!?" A masculine voice asked.

"This is your fault, Koth! If you hadn't taken your eyes off her-" A woman's voice accused.

"If _you_ had been able to actually catch up with her, Arlinn!" The other snapped back.

"She must have been planning her escape from the beginning. Me and you both know Lady Tamiyo is clever, the both of us should have anticipated this." The woman's voice sighed. "And we're going to get no closer to finding where she's gone if we stand around, pointing fingers."

There was a long, drawn-out pause where Chandra became hyper aware of her own breathing. She could feel a twig just beneath her palm, a small bit of pressure's away from snapping beneath her. The girl on top of her stared through the gaps in the branches and leaves nervously, biting her lip.

"Fine, let's circle around the building one more time. She's a spirited one, but I sincerely doubt she'll be so bold as to run off of school grounds." The other voice finally sighed, and Chandra restrained herself from doing the same as the two of them began to walk away. "As long as we find her before her family calls to check in..."

Chandra and the girl waited until the two voices had vanished completely before the girl removed her hands from Chandra's mouth, and Chandra struggled out from underneath her and from out of the bush, brushing twigs and leaves from off her outfit and out of her hair. She followed suit, crawling out of the bushes and looking at the ground apologetically.

"I...I suppose I owe you an explanation..." She nervously shifted her gaze upward to meet Chandra's eyes, who cocked her eyebrow and rested her hand on her hip. "A-and an apology as well." She bowed her head deeply, like she was a dog expecting to be punished.

"Being pushed into the damn bushes and being forcibly gagged has certainly been the most _interesting_ thing that has happened to me today." Chandra nodded. "I'd certainly like a little backstory to what I'm being dragged into, ' _Lady Tamiyo_ '."

"Erm..." The girl muttered. "Right... Like you heard, my name's Tamiyo, and those two are like my body guards. My parents hired them to watch over me when I was very young, and they've shadowed me as well as my family pays them- which is _very_..." For a brief moment, Tamiyo's tone of voice changed, sounding annoyed and almost bitter. "Here at this school, I finally have a chance to have some time by myself and I found an opening and well... took it. I-I'm not looking to play hide-and-seek with them forever, just for a few hours! A few hours of freedom is all I ask. I just... don't know the area very well yet, and don't know the places I can go where they won't find me right away... I... I know we just met, and not under the most preferable of circumstances but... could you help me, please!"

"Hmm..." Chandra mulled it over for a brief moment, almost tempted to say no before she caught the look in the girl's eyes, and her look alone was enough to seal away her refusal. "Well, I do know a few places to go for people who want to be alone... I do guess, as a new student, I should give you a little tour."

"Oh, thank you! You have my gratitude!" Tamiyo beamed. "How can I ever repay- ow!" She suddenly gasped as she began to rise, dropping back down to one knee and looking down at one of her feet. Much to Chandra's surprise, Tamiyo wasn't wearing socks or shoes, her white feet scuffed and dirty from running around the campus. And, to top it all off, one of her ankles was slightly swollen- nothing all that serous, just from a simple glance. She'd probably just twisted it somewhere between crashing into Chandra and jumping into the bushes.

"Looks like I'm not done doing you favors yet, huh?" Chandra chuckled. "I think we can afford to take a trip to the nurses office."

"I-I'd hate to impose!" Tamiyo stammered.

"Can't have you limping around while we try to give your body guards the slip, now can we?" Chandra chuckled as she offered her a hand. "It won't take long, I promise. Emmara's a literal miracle worker, and we an go back to being on the run in no time!"

* * *

Emmara smiled as she placed a colorful bouquet of flowers into a vase, running her hands over the velvety petals as she arranged them lovingly. They were all very exotic, something that couldn't be picked up from the florist in town- and definitely not from Ravnica at all, for that matter. She always loved receiving them- flowers that she would never in her lifetime have seen- but she loved the person who always returned with them so much more.

"You arrived much sooner than I expected- I figured it would at least be another month before you'd return this time." She said with a grin as she continued to arrange the flowers in the vase. "And to surprise me during work hours, too... somebody clearly couldn't be patient."

"What can I say, I finished what I needed to in Zendikar a lot quicker than I expected, and can you blame me for not being able to wait to see you after so long?" Emmara giggled as she felt her partner wrap her arms around her from behind. "What was I supposed to do, twiddle my thumbs while I waited for you at home?"

"Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't appreciate getting to see you, you're usually more reserved than this, so I'm just a little surprised." Emmara sighed happily as she leaned against her. "Mmmn... You smell like gardening." She loved her scent, the smell of soil and exotic flora, sweat and sunshine.

"And you smell like flowers." Nissa complimented, leaning in and pressing her lips against Emmara's neck. "You smell like home."

"Oh, Nissa..." Emmara sighed, suddenly feeling like she was about to overflow.

"Ahem..." Somebody clearing their throat suddenly rang through the air, changing the mood instantly and forcing the two of them apart. Emmara spun around, her cheeks as red as the vibrant petals on some of her flowers, coming to find Chandra lingering in the doorway, obviously struggling to keep from looking too amused. "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"Ch-Chandra! What a surprise!" Emmara stammered, straightening out her clothes and brushing her hair out of her face. "I wasn't expecting any students this late!"

"I can tell." Chandra smirked. "What's up, Nissa? How was Zendikar- looking pretty green?"

"Hmph..." Nissa grumbled, easily making herself look presentable but unable to hide the rosy hue in her cheeks.

"I can come back later, it looked like you were pretty... _busy_." Chandra said behind a toothy grin.

"Chandra..." Emmara groaned. "No, no, it's alright."

"The mood's been efficiently ruined anyway." Nissa grumbled under her breath.

"Nissa, please..." Emmara sighed, attempting to sooth her frustrated wife before turning her attention back to Chandra. "What is it you need, dear?"

"Oh. I don't need anything." Chandra said, watching as Nissa became noticeably angrier as she hit her with an icy glare. For a split second, Chandra feared it would be the last thing she ever saw. "I-I mean, _I_ don't need anything, but my friend here just needs her ankle wrapped!" And with that she stepped into the infirmary, pulling a limping Tamiyo behind her. Tamiyo seemed just as embarrassed as Emmara, her eyes focused on the ground and her entire face beet-red.

"H-hello again Mrs. Revane..." Tamiyo squeaked meekly.

"Ah, we meet again, miss..." Emmara began before she trailed off.

"T-Tamiyo."

"Wait, you two already met?" Chandra asked.

"Y-yes, well... I stopped by a while back to discuss my prescription... pain meds." Tamiyo explained. "For headaches. I don't need them so much now, they haven't happened very much since the planeswalker first-contact a while back but-"

"Oh, so you can read minds, huh?" Chandra asked, sounding intrigued.

"How did you know that?" Tamiyo asked, seeming legitimately curious.

"O-oh, well, I guess I... I knew a guy..." Chandra began to explain before she felt her heart sink.

"U-um, you mentioned miss Tamiyo needing her ankle wrapped?" Emmara cut in. "If you show me the ankle, I can get you out of here in no time."

"So you two can get back to romancing, eh?" Chandra asked, eyebrows raising in a knowing way. Emmara blushed and Nissa scowled- and Chandra cowered. "Or, you know, best to treat wounds as soon as possible. That's our Emmara, looking out for her patients."

"Come sit here, Tamiyo." Emmara motioned to one of the cots before she went about looking for bandages.

"Th-thank you!" Tamiyo spoke up as she took a seat. She sat nervously in silence, hands placed in her lap. And, every other second, she stole a glimpse of Nissa who was already folding her arms and tapping her foot. "...um..."

"What?" Nissa asked harshly. Tamiyo went rigid, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a semi-truck.

"Nissa, play nice!" Emmara scolded as she hurried over with a roll of bandages. "I'm sorry about her, she usually puts effort into being nicer." She looked up at Nissa who waveringly looked back. "Introduce yourself to the girl at least."

"Fine..." Nissa sighed. "I'm Nissa Revane, Emmara's wife." She clearly appeared to be struggling to come up with things to say.

"She's also a planeswalker, and travels to and from the plane of Zendikar a lot." Emmara added proudly as she took Tamiyo's foot gently in her hands.

"A _planeswalker_!?" Tamiyo gasped. "I-I'm sorry, I just... I've never met one before!"

"Maybe the next time we have more time, she can tell you all about the place's she's visited." Emmara offered, giving Nissa a coaxing look as she wrapped Tamiyo's ankle. Nissa sighed and rolled her eyes, but said nothing in response. "She seems really scary, but she's a big softy, I promise."

"How was Zendikar, anyway? How's the restoration project coming along?" Chandra asked.

"A snails pace is putting it lightly, but progress is progress I suppose." Nissa sighed. "I'm honestly more interested in investigating what happened to the Eldrazi these days. I told you before I came to find somebody had re-sealed them while I was... away... but it happened so long ago that nobody seems to even have an accurate record of how it happened, and everything I do uncover seems more like myth than reality..." Nissa paused, noticing Tamiyo was looking up at them, trying to piece together their conversation and clearly becoming more and more confused. "But that's all a story for another time, when we have more time to talk."

"There, all tightly wrapped, but do try and keep off it as much as you can. I wouldn't recommend running any marathons for a few days." Emmara said jokingly. "Though I have to wonder what you were doing, running around without any shoes."

"I-it's a long story..." Tamiyo laughed nervously. "Thank you, Mrs. Revane."

"Please, call me Emmara. Anyone who is friends with Chandra is a friend of mine." Emmara smiled. Tamiyo looked strangely surprised as she looked to Chandra who couldn't think to do anything but smile. It was a small gesture, but it seemed to make Tamyio incredibly happy.

"Is there anything else you need?" Emmara asked, taking a step back. "I could brew some tea, or-"

"Sorry, no time for that. Me and Tamiyo are on the run." Chandra grinned as she took Tamiyo's hand.

"On the _what_?"

"Sorry, no time to explain! You two love birds have fun!" With a laugh Chandra took her exit, pulling Tamiyo along with her.

"I-It was nice to meet you, Mrs..."

"Just call me Nissa. It will make things easier for all of us."

"Right... Nissa." Tamiyo warmly smiled before Chandra led her completely out of the room.

"She's a sweet girl." Emmara sighed. "I just hope Chandra goes easy on her."

"Chandra? Going easy on someone?" Nissa snorted. "You're better off hoping for world peace."

* * *

"Are we... supposed to be up here?" Tamiyo asked as her and Chandra climbed the dimly-lit stairwell. "I'm pretty sure that last door we went through said no one but the staff are allowed through here."

"Well, technically no, but after almost four years here at this academy you start to realize they're more concerned with making sure a bunch of magic misfits don't go running a muck than making sure students aren't sneaking onto the roof." Chandra explained. "It also helps I'm on first-name basis with the dean."

"Wow..." Tamiyo softly said to herself, most definitely having met Sorin and all of his intimidating glory before based on her tone. "How did you accomplish something like that?"

"Let's just say I did him a little... favor a couple of years ago." Chandra chuckled as they reached the top of the stairs. And, just like always, the door leading to the roof was left carelessly unlocked.

"Anyway, this is usually where I go when I want to be left alone. Welcome to the best view on the entire campus." Chandra announced as she pushed the door open and held it open for Tamiyo to pass through. It was such a regular thing for everyone else she was ever friends with, there was a swell of pride that built up in Chandra's chest as she watched as Tamiyo quietly gasped in surprise as she quickly walked over to the chain-link fence surrounding the edge of the roof and gazed in wonder at the view. It was such a simple thing, at least to Chandra anyway, so it was a rare sight to see someone treat it like it was something incredible and awe-inspiring.

"Wow... you can see for miles up here!" Tamiyo gasped. "And you just come up here whenever you want!?"

"Well, I mean, you gotta be a little careful. They're not very strict about keeping this place locked up now, but if enough people get caught coming up here I'm sure they'd be forced to do something about it. But so long as you keep from being seen... yeah." Chandra made sure to mention. "So long as you're careful, you can come up here all the time to get away from those goons- I mean, your body guards."

"Y-you mean it!? I can!?" Tamiyo asked, her eyes practically sparkling.

"Of course. It's not like I own the roof or anything- anybody can come up here." Chandra chuckled, Tamiyo's absolute amazement over something as simple as being able to sneak onto the roof slightly sliding from being a cute, rare sight to being slightly uncomfortable. Maybe she was just noticing it now, but Tamiyo seemed to have an air of someone who was particularly sheltered.

"So... why the body guards?" Chandra finally brought herself to ask. "Honestly, I have a lot of questions. I've never really _seen_ anybody like you before, but maybe it's best to start at why you have muscle always following you around and guarding your door back at the student apartments."

"Oh, that..." Tamiyo sighed, her expression changing from that of wonder to more of a somber one. "My family hired them to watch over me when I was very small. I mean, I know they care for me but... it's more because I'm important to my race..."

"This sounds like you're leading me down a really odd rabbit hole but I'll bite." Chandra said, pausing to chuckle at the unintentional pun- given Tamiyo's appearance- about rabbits. "What do you mean by 'important to your race' exactly?"

"It's... complicated." Tamiyo shrugged. "I belong to an endangered race of people called the Soratami. Legend says the first Soratami came to Ravnica from another place entirely- it seemed much more rooted in fantasy before, when I was younger, but these days I wonder if the first Soratami that settled down in Ravnica were planeswalkers... but regardless, the Sortami have always been a people who have felt departed from Ravnican society. We keep ourselves cloistered away for the most part, and I can feel us as a people stagnating...

"But as for why I'm significant at all is that my family were told when I was born, that I was a reincarnation of one of the first Soratami to settle on Ravnica. She was said to be very wise, and my people speak of her as if she's some sort of deity. So, naturally, hearing this, my family has been very protective of me. I've been shut away, like some sort of precious, fragile antique, for most of my life so far. I had to fight to be allowed to attend a school on the outside, and even then my movements are restricted and I have to keep in close contact with my family at all times- and, you know, the body guards."

"A... reincarnation, you say?" Chandra asked, feeling a slight tug at the mention of such a thing. Had she just been a regular person with no real knowledge of Ravnica's long-forgotten past, she would have shrugged the idea of reincarnation off as some sort of interesting hoax, but Chandra knew better. Chandra, the reincarnation of Chandra Nalaar who perished in the great war against the terrifying dragon, Nicol Bolas, knew better.

"I know it sounds silly- I've always thought it sounded silly-" Tamiyo began to chuckle nervously.

"No! Not at all!" Chandra said, maybe a little too urgently. It was no easy feat, but Chandra attempted to backtrack. "It... it _sounds_ cool, you know?"

"But doesn't it sound like too much of a fairy tale?" Tamiyo asked.

"Well, it does suck your family uses it as a reason to keep you on a short leash, but we go to a school for mages, among elves and goblins and merfolk and angels. At some point, you stop brushing off fantastical stuff as fairy tales." Chandra smiled. "Being a reincarnation of somebody important... it sounds pretty neat, in my opinion. Maybe they did something great..." Her nightmares of her past had long since stopped haunting her sleeping hours, but for a moment, Chandra remembered the scene that weighed on her the most- Chandra Nalaar's final moment, when she killed and was killed by Jace Beleren. "...Doesn't it make you want to try your hand at doing something amazing, too?"

"Oh... well, if you put it like _that_..." Tamiyo said as she looked out towards the horizon. "Maybe I'll have a chance to do that here at this school- in the outside world."

"That's the spirit!" Chandra grinned just as the door to the roof suddenly banged open. Both girls jumped and spun around, coming to find both of Tamiyo's body guards hurrying onto the roof. The older woman sighed in relief while the man seemed incredibly proud of himself.

"I told you I saw her up here. And you didn't believe me." He scoffed. The older woman grumbled before pushing passed him and walked with intimidating purpose toward Tamiyo and Chandra.

"Lady Tamiyo, it's time to stop this nonsense and return back to your room. If your late in checking in with your parents they'll be cross with both us and you." She barked as she approached them and reached out to grasp Tamiyo's shoulder. Tamiyo shrugged away, but made no move to run. She looked down at the ground in frustrated defeat.

"I know that..." She muttered. "But it' not as if I have much to tell them, it was only the first day..."

"It doesn't matter, those were the rules they put in place and you agreed to follow them if you want to continue to attend this academy." The woman scolded before turning her attention to Chandra, who gulped nervously.

"And who might you be?" She asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "What are you doing with Lady Tamiyo?"

"Arlinn, don't! I asked her to help me, she's blameless so please-"

"I'm not going to do anything to the girl, I just want to know her name, just in case we have any... run ins in the future." The woman assured her, but Chandra herself hardly felt assured at all. A run-in could mean simply seeing each other in the hallway, but given how overwhelmingly intimidating she was, it might as well have been a warning.

"I-I'm Chandra Nalaar. I was just... showing Tamiyo around the school..." Chandra complied.

"Well, Miss Nalaar, it's very nice to make your acquaintance. My name is Arlinn Kord and this..." She motioned to her partner who, in the meantime, had also drawn closer without Chandra having noticed and was now just as intimidatingly close. "...Is my associate, Koth. We both have a very important job in making sure Lady Tamiyo is safe, so should something like this happen again, I trust you'll do the right thing and make sure she is placed back in our protective care... _correct_?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Chandra went rigid. "Y-you got it!"

"Are you done intimidating her?" Tamiyo asked, furrowing her brow in frustration.

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you mean, Lady Tamiyo, but we are finished here, so we can return now." Arlinn shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Tamiyo said quietly as she was led away by both Koth and Arlinn. At first, Chandra could do nothing but watch them go, her tongue feeling paralyzed. But, as Tamiyo went from looking over her shoulder back at her to turning forward to look at the ground, Chandra felt a wave of frustration of her own build inside of her.

"Tamiyo!" She called out. Tamiyo paused, looking back in surprise. "I... I'll see you later!" Tamiyo said nothing in response, but she gave a heart-warming smile and waved before she was ushered through the doors and back down the stairwell.

"Well..." Chandra sighed to herself, watching her go. "Maybe something interesting is going to happen this year after all."


End file.
